


A new beginning means an ending has to come eventually.

by youngjusticewriter



Series: Icarus. [4]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, hello emotionally pain caused by Nina Tucker I've come to see you again, or rather last two sentences, the Elric brothers need a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23304955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjusticewriter/pseuds/youngjusticewriter
Summary: It came without thought: the urge to raise his hand and pat Alphone’s head. Instead of doing that - because Alphonse doesn’t have his body because of you, because the armor he indwelld is too tall for grown men much less Edward -  he curled his fingers into the palms of his hands. Only one hand gave off the sting of have nails digging into his flesh. The other made a noise - metal scraping metal - at the action.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Series: Icarus. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1044344
Kudos: 34





	A new beginning means an ending has to come eventually.

There was no chance to further sort things out of his own. Alphonse was in the yard when Havoc dropped him off. 

“How did it go?” Were the words that greeted him. 

He’s had time to think during the drive but in this moment it was not enough time. The words lodged themselves in Edward’s throat and there, like milk that had stayed out in the sun too long, they soured. 

“I was assigned my first mission,” Edward replied and he wasn’t beating the bush; beating around the bush meant that Edward was thinking of ways to hold off telling his younger brother. Right now he’s too- 

“What is? Do we have to leave or is it in Central?” Alphonse inquired. It said something about how they’ve been the last few days - emotionally been that is - that Alphonse hadn’t picked up that something was wrong. His brother was really sharp about detecting moods and how to handle a person’s feelings.

Even if Edward wasn’t in the circumstances that he was in now this victory of getting his first mission isn’t a victory. Because Nina is dead. Because Alexander and Nina - like her mother before her - were alchemized together and Edward should have done something more than just asking Hughes after seeing that drawing. He should have been faster and smarter.

...And he wasn’t. 

“I’m suppose to go through Tucker’s things,” Edward admitted and despite knowing he’s going to die a State Alchemist - and that his brother was going to want Edward to quit even though this is their best chance at finding the philosopher’s stone and restoring their bodies - he was still mad at Mustang. Because what was he thinking- 

Maybe the train should have been more of a red flag on who his commanding officer truly was: someone who didn’t care about people - only about climbing up the ladder. And having Edward - the youngest person to ever pass the State Alchemist exam and who can transmute with his hands instead of using arrays - under his thumb did just that. 

The other night in the rain wasn’t Mustang being kind by reminding Edward why he became a State Alchemist. 

“Let’s go inside,” the tone he spoke with didn’t broker any argument. It was one that Edward started using when mom started becoming too sick to care for them and it was up to Edward to look after Alphonse and mom. It was the voice that a grown up should have been using. But Edward was the closet thing Alphonse had left as an adult guardian - even if he was just a few years older than Alphonse. 

It came without thought: the urge to raise his hand and pat Alphone’s head. Instead of doing that - because Alphonse doesn’t have his body because of you, because the armor he indwelld is too tall for grown men much less Edward - he curled his fingers into the palms of his hands. Only one hand gave off the sting of have nails digging into his flesh. The other made a noise - metal scraping metal - at the action. 

“What’s wrong brother?” 

It was sunny day. If Nina was still alive she would have been nagging them to take a break from studying to go outside so they all could play with Alexander. The grass was cut and after Tucker’s things had been cleared and sorted another State Alchemist would move right in. The grass would be cut by another family. Or, Edward amended, maybe someone had been hired to maintain the outside of the property. Things were different here than in the country; if you saw a garden here it would be one you had to pay to be admitted to or the garden was in was in a box instead of soil. 

Alphonse was going to find out sooner or later. Edward wouldn’t separate from his brother. He wouldn’t put Alphonse through waiting back at Granny’s while Edward hunted down clues for the philosopher’s stone just like Winry was left waiting for her parents to return from the civil war. They never came back and there’s a chance - a slim one because Edward was going to fight with everything he had to succeed in his goal - that he might not too. 

Maybe it was someone who would come to know him as a State Alchemist and still called Edward by his title even after Edward had retired from working for the government. Edward remembered the first sentence he would last say to his soulmate though: then there's something more important than that?

“Brother?” Fear had crept into Alphonse’s voice. Before the transmutation, before mom got sick, there had been a time when Alphonse had used that same tone when there had been storms. He use to be afraid of those and couldn’t go to bed easily. So Edward had turned on a lamp and had read one of their father’s alchemy books to Alphonse until the storm had passed. 

“There’s something else I have to tell you.” Despite having said they should go inside a few minutes ago it was only now that Edward made his way to front door.

**Author's Note:**

> Edward’s soulmate words are: Then there's something more important than that? Goodbye Fullmetal.’ 
> 
> [\\]
> 
> I hope everyone is staying safe and are taking precautions for not only their health but the health of their families, friends, and the people they might come in contact with.


End file.
